Snowboarding is a very popular winter recreational sport that was developed in the 1980's. The more commonly used snowboards are structured as a single board having binding assemblies attached to the board for receiving the boots of the snowboarder (also referred to herein as the “rider”).
Another popular form of snowboarding involves the use of what is known as a splitboard, which comprises two separate and conjoinable boards. When separated, the two boards are skis; when conjoined together, the boards form a snowboard. Splitboards provide the user with the alternative of using the skis in a traditional skiing mode, or joining the skis for use as a snowboard. The dual configuration of splitboards is particularly useful for using the separate skis for alpine touring into a desired area, then joining the skis into the snowboard configuration to snowboard down a terrain.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,324, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a splitboard binding assembly that has become essentially the industry standard for attachment of boot bindings between the skiing and the snowboarding modes of a splitboard. That is, splitboards are provided with a boot binding assembly that secures the boot to the board along its longitudinal axis when in the skiing mode, and is also provided with a boot binding assembly for the snowboarding mode that comprises a pair of toe pucks attached to one ski and a pair of heel pucks attached to the other ski. When the two skis are positioned side-by-side and secured together for use in the snowboarding mode, each toe puck aligns with a respectively positioned heel puck, and a boot binding is then slid onto an aligned heel and toe puck so that the boot binding spans the two skis.
The '324 patent discloses an exemplary snowboard binding arrangement that comprises a slider plate formed with sides that are curved to form a U-shaped channel on either side of the slider plate. The U-shaped channels are sized to be received on laterally extending flanges on the aligned heel and toe pucks. When the slider plate of the binding is fully engaged on the heel and toe puck, a pin is positioned through holes formed in the forward end of the slider plate to secure the slider plate relative to the heel and toe pucks.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,823,905, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, also describes a boot binding construction for a splitboard where the lower portion of the binding is structured for sliding onto the heel and toe pucks as taught by the '324 patent. The binding of the '905 Patent comprises a sandwich box girder comprised of a top plate, a center spacer core further comprising two separated lateral spacers, and a bottom plate is U-shaped in planar formation to provide a backstop for contacting the heel puck of the binding assembly. The stated objectives of the binding of the 905 Patent are to provide a lightweight construction, essentially provided by the lateral spacers being made of an ultra high molecular weight (UHMW) plastic, and to provide torsional stiffness in the boot binding. The binding of the 905 Patent, while presumably providing a lighter weight binding, nonetheless comprises an assemblage of plates and lateral webs that require fairly precise assemblage of the parts with precision placement of screws to attach the lateral webs and bottom plate to the top plate. The assemblage represents a plurality of parts that must be separately manufactured and assembled, which increases manufacturing costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,126,099, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, also discloses a splitboard binding that uses a single toe pedal mechanism to secure binding into either the snowboard or ski mode. Such assemblage requires a plurality of specialized parts, with an increased manufacturing cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,764,043, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a splitboard binding that eliminates the need for a locking mechanism on the toe for ski mode attachment, by using a circular hook portion that engages with a circular channel on a toe bracket attached to the gliding board, that only engage or disengage at a predetermined angle in excess of one reached during use.
Bindings or binding systems that which are simple to use and easy to operate under harsh conditions would be an improvement in the art.